Barbara Walters will leave ‘The View’ on May 16

NEW YORK — Barbara Walters plans to make her final appearance on “The View” on May 16, part of a daylong retirement celebration that will include ABC News naming its New York headquarters after her.

Later that night, ABC will air a two-hour prime-time special on her career. Walters, who is 84, began in television in 1961 and became the medium’s best-known interviewer. She announced last year that she will retire from regular TV appearances.

Walters will remain involved behind the scenes as an executive producer at “The View,” the daytime talk show she invented.

“That way, I can keep my eye on all of you,” she said on Monday’s show, with a glance at her fellow panelists, as well as watch her longtime producer Bill Geddie “get older and balder — as I get blonder.”

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Walters will be a lifelong member of the ABC News team, and she will make special appearances as news warrants.